‘As mobile operators struggle to accommodate data volumes and the worlds of fixed and mobile communication converge, it’s time for technical advisers to step up and become part of the solution,’ says Marcus Hill, Head of Systems Integrator, Virgin Media Business. ‘There’s currently an explosion in wireless data growth hitting mobile network operators. This is not least because, in many instances, people are choosing to send data via mobile networks instead of wired broadband connections’.

‘The result is a huge challenge to the scalability of mobile networks. Most operators still use radio technology to interconnect different sites. Radio is great for voice, which is what these networks were designed to handle, but is heavily challenged by data. The shortcomings of legacy synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) and time division multiplexing (TDM) based infrastructure are likewise being ruthlessly exposed.’

‘What’s needed is the introduction of an Ethernet cost base into the world of radio networks. But this poses its own problems by bringing about the need for circuit emulation for which no universal standards yet exist.’

Service technology

‘So how can mobile operators manage to remain profitable when lumbered with a cost base they can’t do much about? They need a partner with a fibre-rich network, of course, and the flexibility that only the right fibre provider can deliver.

To differentiate themselves, mobile operators need to make key decisions about the technology underpinning their services, and not focus solely on how those services are delivered. The underlying technology must have minimal latency and the lowest possible number of hops. And it must have the maximum degree of availability and scalability.

Whatever standards are eventually decided upon, the issue of underlying technology will continue to matter. This is because the days when a mobile operator could distinguish themselves by the coverage of their network, or with their commercial offer, are swiftly coming to an end. Mobile operators must now differentiate on customer service, making the infrastructure on which their services are based increasingly vital.’

World in motion

‘Let’s consider the issue of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC). There’s been an awful lot of talk about it, but, as yet, no mass adoption. And yet, like the drive towards IP telephony, the move to FMC services is now reaching a critical pass.

The issue is about allowing mobile calls to be made over an IP network. Organisations everywhere have tried to discourage employees from making expensive mobile calls from the office, but this sort of culture is hard to change. What you want is a way for mobile calls to use your IP network when the employee is in the office, with no need to give them a new handset. They want the same rich feature set and you want scalability.

The key to making this work is down to one word- federation. I’m talking about bringing all services under one manageable umbrella, delivering a dramatic reduction in supply chain costs - just the sort of thing that’s key for growth. Network operators need to seize upon this and make it happen for their customers.’

Where integrators fit in

‘Let’s consider the world of IP multimedia: delivering feature-rich services for users that are hosted in the cloud and not in the office. An SI can have a role here, providing a hosted service out of a data centre, but only with robust connectivity to connect the data centre with its own operations.

The SI has the opportunity to become a sort of mini-telco, leveraging the networks and services of an operator partner. They can deliver a desktop-to-data centre service level agreement that’s all about the performance of actual applications. This is something the client really wants to hear, not techno-babble about jitter and packet switching. And yet the client should never forget that everything depends on having access to a high-capacity core network in order to radically reduce the cost base.’ 

Further reading

ComputerWeekly.com last year reported that wireless data revenue would increase 16% over the next decade.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/08/05/231738/wireless-data-revenue-to-increase-16-over-the-next.htm

The Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance is a global organisation that aims to provide a mutual learning platform in order to accelerate the development and availability of any use convergence products and services. http://www.thefmca.com/

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